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Monday, March 19, 2012

Modern Madness: What your bracket reveals about you

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for everyone who played along!
For more years than I can even remember, March has always been associated with college basketball. March Madness. Mark has followed it for years, and then our son, Aaron. I remember when he was a senior in college and lived in an apartment with two other guys, they put up a bracket that covered that whole living room wall. Aaron followed the teams, knew the stats, and made an informed decision on who would possibly advance from one level to the next, until we finally watched the championship game.

So one year he was running a basketball pool and thought I should play along. Who, me? I don't watch college basketball for more than a passing glance on TV. I don't know any of the teams, the strength of their schedule, the strengths and weaknesses of their players. So that year I made all my picks based on the team mascot, and then deciding which mascot sounded more likely to come out victorious. I did hours of research on team mascots. I knew what a Saluki was (Southern Illinois)--an Egyptian hunting dog. I knew about the Syracuse Orangemen (Scottish warriors). I knew that the Stanford Cardinal was the color, not the bird. And even that didn't matter because their mascot is a tree. Pffft. I think I would choose any mascot over a tree.

I systematically went through the entire bracket deciding which mascot was tougher: Wildcats? Wolverines? Sometimes it got really tricky. Who would you pick between these two: A Demon Deacon or a Blue Devil? Tough choice.That year I ended up predicting the Auburn Tigers would win the whole tournament. Which made Aaron kinda nuts. He told me that really the Tigers shouldn't even be in the tournament. I don't remember why. But that year, as in every single year, there were upsets, and one week my Auburn Tigers were ruling. Don't think I didn't rub that in!

Which brings me to my point. Are you playing along with Fat Quarterly's Modern Madness, the March Madness of fabric lines? 64 fabric lines, divided into four regions. Just like basketball.

Having trouble filling out your bracket? There was an article in our local newspaper last week on "What your bracket reveals about you," how your bracket picks "can reveal more about a person's character than handwriting analysis." I'm not so sure about that, but let's adapt their analogy to fabric, shall we?

The favorites bracket: You select favorites to win every game, er, bolt. Maybe a certain line was not your favorite, but you have seen it everywhere so you consider it a possible first seed and choose it anyway.

What it says about you: You feel that societal order must be preserved at all costs. Maybe you don't want to make a quilt out of that line, but in nearly every blog you read, someone has chosen that fabric, so it is obviously a favorite with a lot of quilters.

The underdogs bracket: Maybe one of the "teams" hasn't gotten much press. But you love a good upset and maybe there will be enough other people feeling the same way.

What it says about you: You truly believe that one person can change the world. You make a beautiful quilt or tote out of some fabric in this line, people will see it, and the next thing you know, everyone wants some of that same fabric!

The expert bracket: You combine favorites with underdogs which you have carefully chosen because ultimately the fabrics can form a different "team" in a quilt and play together beautifully.

Available from Marmalade Fabrics

What it says about you: You understand that the purpose of the tournament pool is to add zest to your sewing experience.

The nickname bracket: You don't even refresh your memory on what a particular fabric line looks like. You choose one over the other based strictly on its name appeal. (Hmmmm....this approach is sounding a little familiar to me...)

Available from Marmalade Fabrics

What it says about you: You are someone who does not fill out a bracket so much as "fill out a bracket." You make a choice and just go with the flow. When you inevitably win the pool, you announce that you cannot imagine what everyone got so worked up about in the first place, because all sixty-four "teams" , er, fabrics, are winners.

What is the ultimate outcome of this anyway? Well, finally a specific line will be chosen the winner. In the meantime, fill out your bracket, and if you aren't familiar with a certain fabric line, use the link and learn a little more about it. You might discover some beautiful fabric that will be a winner in your next project.

I went to the Fat Quarterly Modern Madness archives and found out that just like in college hoops, there were upsets as it got closer to the championship game. Who was last year's winner? It was Jay McCarroll's Habitat by Free Spirit.

And guess what? I have some to give away! The winner will receive a fat quarter of each of these three from the winning line of 2011.

Just answer one (or more) of these: Are you playing along with Fat Quarterly? Have you projected a winner? What is your current favorite fabric line?

Or even better: which category fits you the best--favorites, underdog, expert or nickname? Now we're talkin'!

The RNG will choose a winner Thursday, March 22, at 6 p.m. PDT. And I'll also let you know which fabric line I predict to win the championship.

Hmmmm. I wonder if I could have used the RNG to fill out my whole bracket.

30 comments:

Too funny! I keep meaning to look to see how my choices are doing and I keep forgetting! I think I mostly picked the lines I thought were strong enough to beat their competitors, and they also happen to all be lines I really like. So what does that say about me? :)

This is great. I hadn't even heard about it until you posted this, so no, I don't have my brackets filled out. I didn't do the College Hoops one this year either. I really stink at these things, because I pick the team I want to win, even if I know they won't. I guess that means I'm a loyal person. LOL Have fun with it!

What a fun post!! I have been faithfully voting when the ballot shows up in my reader, but I am not nearly organized enough to have already done the whole bracket. Just like the real March Madness, I get pretty serious at the Sweet Sixteen - ha ha!

Like Mama Pea, I tend to vote for the lines I really like in each pairing. If I have bought it, I will certainly vote for it, even if it is up against a number #1 seed. With my taste, I guess that make me an Underdog, but I have quite a few Favorites in there, too. Independent - that might be the right label.

Love what brackets tell about us! When we went to the horse races a few years ago, i made my choices based on the colours! I came out just as even as everyone who used science! I think I am more of an underdog chooser.Thanks for the giveaway.

It sounds like fun, but oh, so time-consuming! And I really don't like myself very much when I see the competitive need-to-get-it-right in myself. Your descriptions, though, of how we choose, so insightful! And funny!

I'm a few days behind, here, but the Gotye video made it worth catching up. You are an interesting person and a good writer. It isn't the donuts, but March Madness and sitting around on the couch eating snacks all day while watching basketball that is killing my 'diet.' I put 'diet' in quotation marks because, like the pepperoni, it isn't real.

I guess I might be like the underdog because I vote my favorite even when I'm pretty sure the other will win. But that's the only way to have an upset, isn't it!I think maybe Ruby Star is going to win, which is fine by me!

What Cindy didn't tell you about her basketball bracket that year is that she came within one last second basket of winning the whole thing. And don't think we were all very happy she didn't win because we would be still listening to her rub it in. No I haven't filled out any material bracket because I have no clue and none of them have any mascots. Go figure. Mark

I tried voting in the first round but as I don't know the name of many fabric lines I only recognised two of them so I voted for them and the rest of the time I voted for the name I liked best!! I've stopped voting now, I wouldn't want to skew the results!!

I have been following along and playing but only picking my favorites, or least disliked on every pairing. If I didn't know a fabric line I looked it up and then decided. It's fun, being a new quilter, I don't know every fabric line out there, so I'm finding new stuff each time. :)

I have to admit that I despise basketball. All kinds. Pro. College. High School. And it's taking up 11 channels here!

I have been voting in the Fat Quarterly contest. I usually vote for the fabrics I really liked, no matter whether it was an underdog or part of some hype/flavor of the day or name. Just simply whether I like it or not. I hope that puts me in my own category.

I had forgotten that Habitat won last year. I love that collection because it was so different from anything anyone else has done, thus very original and authentic.

As a new quilter, I'm loving seeing all the various lines and what people like. On Round 1, Region 1, I selected the winner every time. However, not so good after that. This is giving me some great stash building ideas though. Thanks for your fun insights. I really enjoy your blog.

I am playing along and doing pretty well. Think that I might fall into the expert bracket (although I don't claim to be one!). I have generally picked my favorites throughout, whether they were big, well-known lines or some of the less visible collections. Thanks for the chance to win!